The small 1.2 Volt
6 mAh Ni-MH Varta V6 HR button cell backup battery was only designed to
maintain the iPAQ's main internal built-in memory during loss of primary
battery power, and not also the expansion Secure Digital and Compact Flash
cards.

Maybe I missed it when I read the HX4700's owner's manual but I'm
sure it must mention that you should remove all the add-on memory cards when
swapping main batteries.

The backup battery held up under the abuse for
about a year with various road trips and air travel.

Over time I had to
switch out the main battery packs with increasing speed or risk an
inconvenient hard reset, initial setup process, and backup file restore
procedure.

Supposedly the backup cell should last at least a few hours but I
was lucky to get a couple of minutes when I first started using a 2nd main
battery.

I included a few
pictures of the German made micro battery next to a USA penny and an SD
memory card to give you an idea of it's extremely small size (actual
dimensions are 6.8mm diameter, 2.15mm height, with a weight of .28 grams).

After searching the
internet for "Varta V6 HR", I realized that I wouldn't be able to run down
to Wal-Mart, or Radio Shack to buy a new one.

Finally, I found a BrightHand
message board thread that recommended Pocket PC Techs as a good online
source for PDA & Smartphone parts.

I bought the new battery for $15.00 and
also added a "Lil' Sync" USB AA Battery Adapter charger for $19.99.

I
figured that if my iPAQ's backup/primary battery selector rocker switch was
broken, as one Bright Hand forum poster suggested, I could just keep the
main battery permanently in the PDA, charge it with the AA adapter while
flying and toss the generic eBay "Made In China" batt into the back of a
drawer to be forgotten.

The new backup
battery popped in easily so I replaced the back cover and the main battery
pack.

When I first turned the HX4700 back on, I of course had to go through
the hard reset initial setup and backup restore process. I checked the power
status page and the new backup cell was at 0%. I put the PDA back into the
cradle and left it alone for a few hours and then when I checked again the
status was at 100% for both batteries. The real test was when I pulled out
the SD/CF memory cards and the main battery pack for a few minutes. When I
put the main battery back in, the PDA started up like a soft reset with all
my programs still intact.

After fixing this
problem I thought about upgrading to the newer Windows Mobile 5 or 6 (WM5 /
WM6) operating systems from the WM 2003 SE (Second Edition) that shipped
with the 4700/4705. But since I only use the PDA for iGuidance 3.0 GPS
navigation, Gmail Email, and TCPMP (The Core Pocket Media Player) to listen
to mp3's and watch movies, I figured that why mess with what works.
Everything that I use in WM2003SE runs very quickly on the HX4700's 624Mhz
Intel Bulvedere processor and 192 mb of memory (128 ROM, 64 SDRAM). I paid
$460 for this iPAQ back in August of 2005 and it has been worth every penny.
For more check out my
HP HX4700 Review & GPS Navigation page or the
Lil' Sync
USB Charger Review.

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